Love Like a Sunrise
by Find A Sunrise
Summary: Damon loved to travel around - and it was also part of his job. In one of his trips, he met Elena, but it didn't matter how much he tried to make her like him, she just didn't. But what would happen if in one of his attempts they got drunk and married? AU/AH All human.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer:** I don't own 'The Vampire Diaries' or its characters. This story exists just because I'm frustrated with the show's storyline and with those cute romantic and fluffy movies, I don't intend to earn money or something else with it. The first scenes are slightly inspired by 'Bunheads'.

* * *

**Prologue**

Elena woke up, but was too lazy to actually open her eyes. She was asking herself why she was already awake anyways, because her body could use a lot more sleep. And her head was hurting. Weren't headaches supposed to get better when you sleep? That was a rule! Except for... hangovers. Oh, no. No, no, no, that couldn't be real.

She had to be dreaming. That's what she thought those crazy flashes of drinking and dancing were. This could not be true. She started to open her eyes and, trying not to move much and not make much noise, look around to see where she was. If her brain were right, there should be...

"Good morning, Elena." She heard his voice and looked up to confirm her fears.  
"Damon." She said looking at him, standing by the bed. She forced her eyes shut and let her head fall to the pillow. "Please tell me this is some sort of twisted joke." "Can't lie to you, baby."  
"Did I really marry you?"  
"Oh, yes. And you even teared up at the I do part. Now come! Take these pills, a shower and let's go home. I can't wait to show you your new life." He smiled and left, leaving a surprised Elena behind.

* * *

**A/n:** This is my first TVD fanfic,_ I hope someone will enjoy it_. The first chapter is coming soon enough - as the others, seeing that I'll be back to my classes in 10 days. See you soon!


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1 **

_Five days before_

Damon looked around the Café. Where was she? She wouldn't leave this job without saying a word to him… Well, actually she probably would, but he didn't believe she disliked him that much. He knew how to be inconvenient, but he also knew how to make her laugh – this had to give him positive points with her. He had no idea how this happened. One day he was a happy 26 year-old guy. He had his house, his job, he made good money and couldn't ask for anything else. And out of the blue, he went to this coffee house and met a girl that changed the axis of his world. The best part about it was that he meant absolutely nothing to her. He tried taking her on dates, giving presents, damn it, he even wrote her letters and if she could care less about him, he was sure she would.

That didn't stop him from coming back every now and then to see her face and how she was doing. By this point he was actually happy she knew his name and on a few lucky days, she went on dinners with him, or just sat by his side on the coffee house. They had met around six months ago, when he was in the middle of one of his work's trips. He was a journalist and traveled around the country to tell people what was good or not in the most common destinations or the most unusual destinations. This Café quickly became his favorite place of all he had visited, because it was super cozy and had some of the most charming people in the whole U.S. and he knew what he was talking about.

Elena was one of them. She worked part time and on the other half of her day she would just sit around and write. She had a novel going on and she also loved to write about the daily routine in the Café and the ones who visited it. That was the first thing that caught Damon's attention: like him, she believed the little stories were better than the big and mainstream ones. This got him on his first date with her. And it also got him to come back. But when he came back, he found out that whatever it was that made him enchanted by her didn't work the other way. But you know what they say about men: if they really want something, nothing can keep them from going after it.

He sat in a couch, close to the "library" area. He loved how this place allowed people to read something while eating, even if he never did it. Not long later, a blond waitress came to talk to him.

"Hi, Damon." She smiled at him.

"Hey, Caroline." He smiled back. Sometimes he wondered why he hasn't fallen for this girl. His life would be so much easier!

"What can I get you today? Other than getting Elena to talk to you." He let out a small laugh.

"A glass of bourbon, please. But, speaking of her, where is she?"

"Oh, she's at this publishing house, I think. It had something to do with the stories she writes about here. But she's probably on her way back already…"

"A publishing house? That's nice."

"Yeah, it is. You know, she was pretty happy when she left… But let me get you your drink."

"Sure." He said and looked at her as she made her way to the entrance of the serving area. A second later, he saw Elena crossing those doors, but making the other way around. She was carrying his glass on her right hand, and a glass that seemed pretty much the same on the left hand.

"Mind if I join you?" She said, raising her glass. He looked at her and noticed that if she was happy when she left, she wasn't anymore. Even if he couldn't define what it was that she was feeling.

"Sure." He pointed the couch on his left side. "So, what is it that got you on bourbon mood? I'm pretty sure I've never seen you –"

"Cut the crap, Damon. You've never seen me doing a lot of things. Wanna know something? That's your problem. You think you know me, but actually you know just a tiny part that I'm not even sure if it is me."

Angriness, he thought. She definitely was angry. He looked at her eyes and very calmly talked to her:

"I get it, something happened, but would you mind not throwing it at me? I don't even know what got you in this mood. I may like you, but you don't get to just punch me and get away with it."

Much to his surprise, she didn't cut he in the middle of what he was saying or replied him as angry as she was before. She only looked away and started with a small voice:

"Can you just help me forget?" She looked at him, tears blurring her vision. He looked surprised, not sure how to react to this. "No talking about it, no telling me that 'things will be fine eventually', nothing. Just forget this ever happened to me." He reached her knee and gave it a light tug.

"I might have a proposal to you, but I need to know something: will you be fine? Eventually?" He gave her a small smile, and she responded with a shy smile.

"Yes, I will. I think." She took a deep breath and cleaned one tear that fell. "What do you have in mind?"

"I happen to be heading to Vegas tonight. I'm staying just for two days, but my suite is awesome, and we can go to casinos, shows and everything else Vegas can offer. Want to join in?"

"Vegas?" She asked, one eyebrow up.

"Vegas." He smiled. "I promise we'll have a blast."

"Okay."

"Really?" He tried not to sound surprised.

"Really. When do we leave?"

"Our plane leaves in 3 and a half hours, so I'd say you have two hours to pack."

"Wait, do I already have a ticket?"

"I may have asked the company to keep one sit on hold for me before coming here." She looked at him and found him grinning like a small child that had done something wrong, but was proud to have done it anyways. She just smiled at him and got up to leave the café and start to pack. He just followed her, still smiling.

* * *

When they arrived, it was already night time. They went straight to their hotel, and when they got there, Elena looked at Damon and made sure he understood how overwhelmed she was.

"Seriously?" She said. "You get paid to stay in 5 star hotels in Vegas?"

"I don't get to bring a plus one often, though." He winked at her. "Speaking of, we'll be sharing a room, I hope you don't mind." She wanted to tell him very loudly that she couldn't care less about that in that moment, that she was actually so happy with her surroundings that she could hug him for one hour and then kiss him, but she only nodded at him and said:

"It would be very ungrateful of my part to be angry about that." To which he smiled.

They went straight to their room and would be getting dinner by room service. While they waited, Elena decided to take a shower and Damon started to organize everything he had to do the next two days. The plan was, as he explained to Elena when they were eating, enjoy everything they could in the hotel, and she'd say to him what she did and how good was it during dinner the next two days. And then, to end their little trip without worrying about things, they'd go to a club just to relax. She was more than happy to agree when he told her that she'd be going to the spa the next day, everything included.

After the dinner, Damon went to take a shower, and Elena slipped into her bed. During her time alone she was replaying her day in her head. How she woke up feeling utterly happy and feeling that the day would be good. Considering things now, it had been a good day. She ended up in Vegas and had a good time with Damon – something she'd have to thank him later. He turned out to be a great company: didn't force her to talk to him, the silences weren't uncomfortable and he seemed genuinely happy she was here with him. She was feeling a bit awkward sharing the bed with him, though. It is a different situation when you know the guy, but isn't emotionally attached to him. She kept imagining that she would wake up and feel his arm around her, or be with her arms around him. She had never been so grateful to sleep in a huge king size bed. She just wished that he noticed she was almost falling off the bed and respect her space. She was feeling pretty tired and quickly fell asleep, not noticing when Damon exited the bathroom.

Damon stopped at the door of the bathroom, looking around the room. He took a second to gaze at her dark image in the bed and smiled. His plan really worked. Sort of. In his mind, she was happy before accepting it, but he could deal with her other feelings as well. When he approached the bed, he noticed she was sleeping in the edge of it, so close to the edge that she could fall. That made him consider sleeping on the floor or on the couch, but hey, he needed to know how good the bed was. And she'd have said something if she didn't want to share the bed, wouldn't she? He wasn't sure about that. But she was perfectly clear right now, showing him that she had her space in the mattress. He respected that, but unlike her, he was facing her and drift to sleep imagining how she looked in the morning.

* * *

"Caroline!" Damon heard Elena say and opened his eyes to look around. Oh yes, Vegas, Elena. He looked at her and she noticed he was awake. Thinking it was her fault, she mouthed a "sorry" to him, to which he smiled and mouthed back a "no problem". He sat on the bed and waited a few seconds to be sure he was awake. Then he left to the bathroom, leaving her in the telephone.

"Care, I don't think that's what he had in mind when he invited me." She listened. "No, I don't know why exactly, but if it was that he would have tried something by now." She paused again. "Listen, I promise I'll let you know as soon as I find out, and I promise to tell you if something happens, but honestly, you know why nothing will happen. And don't say that because you know I like him too much to do something like that. Now let me go because he's awake and I don't want him making any conclusions if he listens to what I'm telling you."

When she turned off the phone he was opening the bathroom door. She looked at him and noticed he changed his clothes and shaved.

"I guess I'll see you at dinner then?" He asked her, while getting close to his things to get everything he needed for the day.

"I guess." She smiled, sort of uncomfortable.

"Right." He said, heading to the door.

"Hey, Damon, wait." She said suddenly. He looked at her, as if saying 'yes'. "Thank you. For everything, really. It means a lot to me."

"You're welcome." He smiled and left.

They didn't spend much time together the rest of the day and the following day. Elena had been busy visiting the pool, the spa and the casino while he tried to see all the attractions that were close to the hotel. She would tell him everything at night and he would be up writing things after she went to bed. On their third day, though, he planned a night out so he could spend some time with her too and he was going to take her to his favorite club around the area.

He was looking at the window in their room when she announced that she was ready. She was wearing a tight and short dress and it made him wonder things he shouldn't. But even with her legs begging for attention, he couldn't stop to look at her face. She looked really happy and he congratulated himself for being the one that put that smile on her face. One thing you did right, Salvatore, he thought.

"You look beautiful. I'll have to keep an eye on you to make sure you'll come back home with me tonight." He smiled and she blushed a little. That would hardly be true. One-night stand wasn't really her thing.

"Hardly." She told him. "Where are you taking me?"

"Dinner, drinks and dance. What do you say?" He smirked.

She nodded and they left to the club. The place was classy, and that was the first thing that came across Elena's mind when they were walking around, getting to a table. They didn't order a whole meal, just a few things to eat along with their drinks. They stayed there for a while, drinking and looking around. Even though they were silent, it wasn't uncomfortable. Damon smiled at her every now and then and also touched her hand. He was sort of surprised she wasn't denying him, but he was also scared she was being nice just because she was a guest on this trip.

"Dance with me?" He asked after a while, holding his hand out to her.

"Sure." She smiled, grabbing his hand and standing up. She was a little tipsy already and laughed when she lost balance. He took that as an excuse to hold her close to his body. He started to notice she was more than tipsy because she was trying to lead the dance and was completely out of the music.

"Maybe you should stop drinking." He whispered in her ear, sensing her skin shivering. She looked at him and only smiled. They continued to dance, smiling at each other. After some time, she excused herself to go to the toilet and he went back to their table, thinking she would look for him there. Apparently he was wrong. When 10 minutes passed and she hasn't come to the table, he started to look for her around the place.

He started around the restrooms and from there, he walked around the whole club. Not even a sign from her. He thought about leaving the place when he remembered the roof. This place had a terrace that was almost a second club, only it was less dark and dancing wasn't important up there. While he was in the elevator, he was almost praying that he was right and she was in the terrace. She couldn't miss the girl in Vegas.

His heart almost came to a stop when he saw her at the bar. He walked towards her as fast as he could without running.

"Elena, finally! You almost gave me a heart attack! Where were-" He started, but shut his mouth when she looked at him. Her eyes were teary, somehow like they were when he met her at the Café a few days ago. "God, what happened?"

She gave him a small smile. "You did." Now he wasn't understanding one thing. He never took his eyes out of her face, but she gave him nothing. Not a word or expression.

"What do you mean with 'I did'?" Nothing. He noticed the glasses in front of her. She had drank at least three shots of tequila and some drink with vodka. "Elena?"

When she didn't respond, he decided to sit by her side and drink with her until she was able to form words again. She already was drunk – from what he could tell – so there was nothing he could do about that. He could stop her from drinking, but she was an adult and would certainly give him a hard time tomorrow for being "too responsible". Their hotel was close, they could get a cab, and well they were in Vegas. It's not a crime to get drunk in Vegas. And he could use a drink to help time pass while he waited for her mood to get just a little bit better.

"I envy you." She said, eventually. He didn't keep track of the time, but he had already had two glasses of bourbon.

"Why's that?"

"Your life." She smiled weakly. "You're not much older than me, and you have so many things I don't."

"You will have them. Things will work out." He was trying to have proper thoughts, trying to say the right thing. She was vulnerable and all he wanted was to hug her forever, take her fears away and promise her everything would be fine.

"No, they won't. That day at the Café, when I saw you, I had just came back from a publishing house. I thought things would work and I'd have something published, but the guy told me they would only do that if I slept with him." Tears started to stream down her face and Damon was staring at her like a statue. "My life sucks, Damon. I've finished college and started working at a Café, damn, I even live in a room there because I don't have enough money to rent a loft in the city. I thought I would get somewhere writing and then this guy gives me shit like that..." She started to sob.

"Elena," He started, trying to get her attention. When she looked at him, he continued. "Will you marry me?"

She stared blankly at him. What the hell was going on? Damon didn't know what came over him, but the idea of marrying her seemed like would solve all of their problems. He would get her and she would get to share his life with him.

"You know, I live in this small town called 'Mystic Falls' and it has some pretty awesome water falls. My house has a balcony that opens to one of this falls..." Somehow talking about his life seemed like the right thing to do right now, as she kept staring at him. Right now, she looked as if she was trying to imagine the falls. He went on again. "I don't know what is it about you, but since I first saw you, I wanted to get to know you, wanted to take care of you and right now you look so-"

"Yes." She cut him. He looked in her eyes. "Yes, I'll marry you."

* * *

**A/n:** Sorry it took me this long! I really thought I'd be updating this long ago, but finally here it is! The first chapter!

Thank you so much for those of you that left reviews and added this story to your alerts and favorites. You have no idea how much that means to me.  
There is no beta to this story and I am trying my best to not make mistakes, but please be nice if there are any. English is not my first language and sometimes my mind thinks faster than my fingers can type and mistakes happen.

Let me know if you liked this chapter!


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

_Present day_

Elena stayed on the bed, facing the ceiling, considering her actions. What the hell did she do? It's not as if she accepted to be friends with him, date him... she married him. And she wasn't even sure if she liked him. Sure, he was a nice guy. Someone she could definitely use in her messed up life. Apparently, he liked her and cared for her, but what if that was only appearances? What if he was a killer or something? She just promised to be with him, until death tears us apart. She was in trouble. Big time.

Maybe there was an easy way out of this. She married in Vegas after all. Maybe they went to some dark and obscure illegal place and she could just get in there and burn the papers that were tying her to Damon. Yeah, right, who was she kidding? They were staying in a 5 star hotel, Damon wasn't that drunk. The ceremony probably ended up being nice and real. And legal.

"Elena?" She heard him through the doors. "Can I come in?"

He knocked. That was nice. And unexpected. She was expecting him to just barge in. Maybe if she kept quiet he would... probably think she fell asleep again. He wouldn't just leave, she thought disappointed.

"Yes, Damon." She said, barely a whisper. It actually impressed her that he heard it. She only knew that he really did hear her because he opened the door as soon as she spoke his name.

"Why are you in bed? Aren't you feeling better?" He smiled, but it faded slowly as he looked at her. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Everything. What did we do, Damon?" She turned to look at him, his face not really showing what was going on in his mind.

"Listen," He started, a little insecure. "I know you probably want to talk about that, and to be honest, I think we have to, but can we do this later? At home?"

"Home?" She asked exasperated.

"Yeah, my house. Our plane leaves in... two hours and what I meant is that if we don't leave in 15 minutes we'll miss our flight. And I'm not leaving you in..."

"What do you mean you're not leaving me at my home? Damon, I don't have clothes and there are people actually waiting for me to come back. You can't steal me from reality." He was quiet. "Damon!"

"Wait, calm down. I didn't exactly think this through." He messed his hair with his hand and she couldn't define exactly what he was feeling. He was definitely confused, but also seemed hurt. "Let's make a deal, because I really don't feel like missing our flight right now. You go to my home with me and then tomorrow we go to your home so you can grab your things and say goodbye. What do you say?"

"You've got to be kidding me. Damon we're not really married."

"Actually, we are." He smirked.

"You know what I meant." She was getting nervous. What kind of man would make her go to his home after a freaky drunk wedding in Vegas?

"Right, I know. Please, just go home with me, we'll figure everything out later. I really doubt I'll get to change our plane tickets again, so..." She felt sorry for a second. He seemed close to desperation.

"Just… I'll be ready in ten." She said getting up and heading to the bathroom. Damon followed her with his eyes until she closed the door.

She was right, he thought. What was he thinking when he even considered they would be a happy couple today? He started to think about ways to make her stay. This was the closest he got to actually have her. He wouldn't let her go away.

When Elena left the bathroom she met Damon, who was sitting in the bed, facing her. She smiled at him, and he smiled back, getting up and heading for the door, being followed by her. He didn't say a word that wasn't necessary, as 'go ahead' or 'thank you'. She wasn't speaking either. The silence was bothering both of them, but they weren't sure about what they should say that would get them out of this awkward situation. And a car or airplane wasn't at all a good place to talk about their relationship – or absence of one – and their marriage and this was the only conversation they had to have, which meant whatever it was they might talk about, they would get to this topic sooner or later.

Thankfully for them, they weren't that much time ahead their flight, so they didn't really spend time together; He left for the restroom and she did the same, then she bought something to eat, and even sitting next to him, she concentrated on her food. Inside the airplane, they weren't sitting together and that made the whole process a lot easier. The awkwardness began to fade away when they arrived in Mystic Falls and Elena started to take in her surroundings. She was enchanted by how pretty this small town was. When she saw the house he lived in, she couldn't help but think that he really had the life she had always dreamed about. And she could have all of this. All she had to do was stay with him, but only thinking about it made her shiver and want to slap herself. That was not her and it wasn't right to stay married to someone just because this someone had the life you've always dreamed of having.

"So," Damon began tentatively when they were inside with their baggage. "What do you think?"

"Your city is adorable." She smiled. "But... what exactly happened last night?"

"Straight to the point, huh." He smiled weakly. "What do you remember?"

"There's no use for us to walk around in circles... I remember getting drunk at that club, then you found me and we started to talk, you asked me to marry you and I have no idea why but it seemed like a genius idea."

"Yeah, I thought it was a genius idea. That's pretty much it, though. I don't know why exactly I proposed, and I'm not sure why I kept the idea alive and actually took us to that sort of chapel to really get married."

"What happened after the ceremony, Damon?" She asked, her cheeks a little flushed.

"You fell asleep as soon as we entered our room; I had to drink the champagne all by myself." He laughed. Okay, Elena thought. This wasn't half the awkward she thought it would be. For some supernatural reason, she and Damon were dealing quite well with the situation. "We didn't even kiss properly, just so you know." She just looked at him, not knowing what to say.

"This is not a conversation I ever imagined having." She said suddenly.

"Tell me about it." He said, and then continued, a little insecure: "I have a proposal to you."

"Damon, I..."

"Wait, let me tell you what it is." He looked her in the eyes and waited for an answer. She only nodded. It was hard to deny him something. Especially when he looked her in the eyes. "This may be awkward, and we really didn't start the best way, but, it will take almost one month for us to get a divorce." She frowned. Where was he getting at? "I have to be somewhere tomorrow. And I won't be back until the end of the week. I thought you could stay here and then we'd go together to a lawyer get this sorted..."

"Damon, I... I can't stay here. This is your home and I can't just abandon my life back home." He looked at her again. And there it was, in his eyes. The same weird light she saw in the hotel that morning, the one she didn't like one bit because left him at the verge of breaking like a small child. They kept staring at each other, silent. She knew the right thing to do was go away. "Why would I stay?" She asked, finally.

"Why wouldn't you?" He said.

"Damon, I have a life!"Elena protested.

"Start a new one!"

"I honestly can't believe you. Are you insane? Where are my things? I'm going home and you can solve our problem as you wish. I'll find myself a lawyer and you should do the same. Thank you for the trip, Damon, I had fun."

"See? You don't hate me! We can have fun together."

"But that doesn't mean I want to start a life with you. I don't even know you!"

"Then stay here and..."A knock on the door made him stop talking. "I should get that." He said. "If you don't want anyone to see you here, go upstairs. We'll talk later, but please," He said, grabbing her hands while the person knocked again. "consider what I've asked you."

Elena looked from their joined hands to his face, nodded and pulled her hands, walking away from him and in the direction of the stairs. She heard the knocking once again and also heard when Damon opened the door. She could also heard him call Stefan and Caroline, and caught herself imagining who they were. That also made her think of her Caroline and Elena went looking for her phone to call her 'd help her get off this situation and if she was lucky enough, help her with a ride home. She looked on the bags that were upstairs, but had no luck. Her phone probably was on her purse downstairs.

She decided to lay on the bed and just when she felt her head hit the mattress, she heard the door being open and looked at it. She couldn't have been more surprised. She was expecting Damon to open the door, but instead, she was met with beautiful green eyes and almost blond hair.

"Hey, I think I found her!" The stranger, Stefan probably, announced to the corridor and a few seconds later Damon joined him and they entered the room. Elena was looking at Damon, silently demanding an explanation - she came upstairs so whoever it was that was visiting wouldn't see her and now the guy was in her room. When she was about to voice her request, someone else entered the room and Elena felt like screaming. Caroline, her Caroline was here and her friend couldn't have find a better time to make a surprise. Nothing made sense right now, but she didn't care. Caroline was here and she would get her out of Damon's life.

Elena jumped out of the bed and gave her friend a bear hug.

"What are you doing here, Care?"

"I'm here to save you, silly." Caroline smiled

"How?"

"Damon called his brother Stefan and asked him to call me because he was imagining what he was going to face."

"You're here to help him?" Elena couldn't help to feel a bit betrayed by that.

"Don't look so surprised. You know I'm trying to get you two together since forever."

"Care!"Elena said, a little exasperated.

"Er, hum, we're... we'll be downstairs if you need us." Damon said and left the room with Stefan on his side. Elena couldn't believe she had three people to fight now.

"Okay," Caroline started. "How do you want to do this?"

"I just don't want to." Elena said, getting back on the bed and facing the ceiling again. She had never admired this part of constructions as much as she did today.

"Elena, why can't you see this? This is what you've been waiting for. This is the wake-up call! And it came in form of a ridiculously handsome blue-eyed guy. You can't let this run away!"

"Nope, this is a mistake I made. It doesn't feel right to be here."

"Right now maybe it doesn't but I assure you that if you just try a little bit..."Caroline looked at her expectantly.

"It feels wrong, Care. As if I'm staying because he's handsome and rich. That's not me."

"I know that. But that's not what this is now. He wants you to be here, he wants you guys to try to make it. Come on, Elena, you don't want to be divorced before you're 25!"

"As if I had wanted to be married before I was 25. Look where I am right now."

"Elena, stop being stupid. What is stopping you? It's not as if you really had something to go home to."

"I do have a life you know."

"Oh, come on. A stupid job as a waitress that isn't even half of what you can do, a stupid little room and some awesome writings. You deserve more, Elena. This can be it!"

"What if it's not?"

"Then you'll go home and start again. What you can't do is stay in the city living your life as if that was all the world has to offer!"

"I don't know, Care..."

"Argh, just listen to me, right now! You'll stay here for the next month, even if I have to stay here with you. And I want you to think about what could happen, the good stuff. There are tons of women out there that would be killing to be in this situation right now. I won't let you give this up. You wouldn't have said yes if you didn't feel like there was a reason for it." Elena was about to protest and Caroline held her hand up saying: "I don't care how drunk you were. You know what people say: drink goes in, truth comes out."

Elena looked at her and then she kept quiet. She walked to the window and kept staring outside. The view was wonderful.

"What? No come back?"Caroline said. "I knew I was right."

"Nothing I have to say will make you change your mind. I can survive a week here. Let's see what happens."She shrugged and Caroline smiled, walking to her and hugging her friend.

"You won't regret this. And don't forget to thank me later."

* * *

A/n: Sorry it took me so long to post this update. Author's block and I had almost no free time at all these past weeks. College is slowly killing me.

Anyways, I hope I don't disappoint you too much :)


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Three days had gone since Damon and Elena arrived at his house in Mystic Falls. After deciding to stay, Elena went downstairs to tell Damon, who gave her a huge smile and a hug. The four of them had dinner together without major consequences, talks or anything important. After dinner, Damon and Elena had a quick talk and decided to stay on separated bedrooms, at least for now, that Elena and Caroline would be staying alone for a week. She went to the room Damon told her to call hers she didn't see Damon anymore. He was already gone when she woke up. When she moved around the room, though, she found a single red rose in the chair next to the window with a note from him. "Thank you", it said.

Caroline and Elena transformed these days into a girls trip, as if they were back to high school and without parents. Stefan had stopped by everyday to see if they needed something and also to take them to nice places around the town - not that the girls really needed it... Elena was not sure about how that happened, but Mystic Falls used to be hers and Caroline's home before college. Not that Elena was planning on telling this to Damon anytime soon, as she said to Caroline after lying to Stefan about it. She would, eventually, but now was not the right time. They were heading home after spending the days at the falls when Elena suddenly started to talk about her possible future.

"I'm not even sure about what you made me agree to." She laughed.

"You agreed to be here with me this week and then enjoy the month with your hubby."

"Are you leaving?"

"As soon as Damon steps in. You need time with him, not me. Although I wouldn't mind staying for another week like this."

"Especially if his brother continues his daily visits, right?" Elena smiled. If Caroline was going to bother her, she would do the same.

"I wouldn't complain." Caroline smiled. "Unlike you, that apparently wants to spend the rest of your days alone and wallowing."

"I do not. And I already agreed with you and with him about this trying to be a couple thing." She said, making a face when she said the last words.

"Are you anxious to see him?"

"What?" Elena said while opening the front door.

"Are you? I'd be." Caroline walked to the living room and sat on the couch. Elena was slowly walking to the room.

"I'm not anxious to see him, per se. I'm anxious considering this entire situation." Elena said. "I know you love the idea, but you understand me when I say this couldn't be more awkward, right?"

"Yeah, I do." Caroline answered. She started to move, to say something else, but the phone rang and she just stared at her friend as she answered it. Caroline looked at Elena expectantly, wanting to know who it was that was calling and she started to worry when her friend started to loose the color on her face while answering

"It's been three days since he left. He should have arrived a long time ago!" Caroline kept staring at Elena and Elena grabbed her hand. She continued on the phone for another minute and when she hung up, she looked at Caroline, worry all over her face.

"Damon never made it to... wherever it it that he was going! It's like he vanished!" Elena said.

"Let's call Stefan. He'll know better what to do and I know this sounds dumb and the guys from the company probably did this, but... try to call him."

"He would have called, don't you think? Maybe he's"

"NO! No bad thoughts. I know things don't sound really good right now, but try to keep it positive. Call him, I'll call Stefan, ask him to come here and we'll see what we'll do." Caroline said, starting to take control over things. She grabbed her phone and dialed Stefan's number, and looked at Elena, silently telling her friend to do the same. She agreed to meet him in 10 minutes at the house and hang up really fast when she noticed someone did pick up Damon's phone.

"Damon, where are you?" She heard her friend questioning. Elena couldn't feel more confused. "What happened?" She asked. "Oh my gosh" she pressed her hand to her mouth. "we'll come get you." Elena then looked at Caroline, who was expectantly waiting for an explanation. "Car accident, broken arm, broken ankle and dead battery." She told her. "He's in Atlanta."

Stefan arrived really fast and the girls filled him with what they knew about the situation. Damon didn't tell Elena much and she was still finding it weird that he left three days ago and just now she found this out. She agreed with Stefan to go with him to get Damon and Caroline decided to go home - she felt like she was invading their space, even though it wasn't really their space. But above all, she knew her friend and she knew this would give Elena the final push she needed to let something happen between herself and Damon.

Elena got into a car with Stefan and they started to drive towards Atlanta. The car was filled with an awkward silence, and she kept staring at the road. She quickly fell asleep, and when she woke up, it was already past midnight and they were almost there. Elena was very grateful for that. She liked Stefan, but he made her feel way too much uncomfortable. Before she noticed, they were stopping in front of the hospital and one minute later they were entering Damon's room.

When Elena saw him, she gasped and took her hand to her mouth. Bruises were all over him, he had a few stitches in between his nose and mouth, his head, right ankle and arm were bandaged.

"Are you ok?" She asked, all worries about why he hasn't called completely out of her mind.

"I guess so..." He said, quietly. "Now that you two are here they're letting me out." He tentatively smiled.

"Don't expect me to move back to the boarding house and play nurse." Stefan said.

"Oh, I wasn't expecting that, brother." He laughed a little. "They just wouldn't let me out. It's not as if I could drive back home."

"Sure." Stefan said. "You two stay here, I'll look for your Doctor to see if we can get you out of here. He headed to the door while Damon smiled and looked at Elena.

"Am I that scary? You look like you've just seen a ghost or something."

"Let's just say you don't look your greatest." She took a deep breath "How long have you been here? Why didn't you call?"

"I was going to, but my phone was not with me when I woke up and when they gave me it, you were calling. And I've been here since last night, I'm not sure about the hour..."

"I got really scared when the guys that were waiting for you called earlier."

"I'm sorry." He looked at her, she was staring at him as if he was so frail "Come here, I won't break." He moved his hand to the bed, asking her to sit closer to him. When she got near him, he awkwardly pulled her closer, giving her a hug. "It's fine now. I'll be ok."

"What happened, Damon?" She asked him, almost crying. Damon started to worry about how worried she was. Was then that he remembered their first date, when she told him about her parents car crash. Being in the hospital was probably bringing her memories to the surface.

"I'm not sure, to be honest. But I'm fine now." He gave her a tentative smile.

"Hi, Damon" Damon and Elena turned to the door and saw a doctor coming inside the room "How are you feeling?" She smiled. "I know you want to go home, but I can't do it right now. You're good and we'll let you go in the morning. How does that sounds?" Not perfect, Damon, Stefan and Elena thought, but there was nothing they could do. Elena quickly made herself comfortable in the room's sofa, and Stefan took the sleeping chair. Next thing she remembers is to be awaken by bright blue eyes.

"So I get to boss you around for a week, then." Elena smiled at Damon. He was supposed to get a one week house rest - he could move around a little and not stay only in bed, but outside was off-limits.

"You talk as if your dreams just came true" he looked at her "you're not really expecting me to be inside for the week, are you?"

"Actually, I am. And you're going to stay in and resting. I can play nurse for some time, but I want you to get better sooner rather than later. Are you hungry? I can fix us something to eat."

"You cook?" He asked, eyes wide open.

"Don't look so surprised. I worked at a Café... I learned a thing or two." Damon made a face at her as if saying he didn't believe her completely and then made a move to get up.

"Help a guy out, will you?"

"Why don't you stay here?" She said, walking towards him, helping him to get out of the couch.

"And let you set fire to my kitchen? No way. Also, we can talk while I watch what you're doing and I can help."

"Since when do you know how to cook?"

"Lena, Lena... there's so much you have to find out about me..." He smiled, and she smiled back, to his surprise.

An hour later they were eating a simple, but very good meal: partially homemade mac and cheese. Elena found out that Damon was indeed a good cook and kept his house with a great amount of food. She needed to shop for a few things, though. She also found out that this house was originally his uncle's and he started to live here three years ago, when he left college and his uncle died, leaving him and Stefan as the only Salvatores alive in the US. He had a few family members in Italy, where he lived until he was 6 years old and after that, he lived in Georgia with his dad and brother. He had never heard about Mystic Falls before his uncle's death.

She, on the other hand, told him few things about herself. None of them gave him a clue that the small town she grew up in was this very own she was living now. He asked her for details of what she told him when they first met, so she gave him a little more insight of what her life has been like since she was 16 and everything started to get messy with her parents death, her aunt trying to raise them and getting married when she just turned eighteen - which led them to not talking anymore - and how her brother was still in college. It crossed her mind to let him know that she lived here before, but something made her keep her mouth shut.

She cleaned the kitchen and they went to the living room. Elena helped Damon get comfortable in the couch and sat on the other one. She turned the tv on some random channel and looked at Damon.

"Still thinking this is a good idea?"

"Surprisingly, yes. Still thinking this is a bad idea?"

"Not so surprisingly, yes." She smiled at him. "You better be glad you're all broken, because if it wasn't for that, I'd be leaving as soon as possible." He looked at her surprised. They were getting along pretty well in the kitchen. He didn't see a reason for her to be pissed and still thinking about running out the door, even if she sounded as if she was joking.

"Help me out, please. What exactly are you against here?"

"I don't despise you, if that's what you're worried about." She smiled. "It's just that getting married wasn't on my plans." She shrugged "Let alone getting married while I was drunk in Vegas."

"Come on, it could be worse and you know it. You could have been kidnaped." He smirked.

"Not funny, Damon. It's just that... I told you this before. I don't do relationships. Never did and I pretty sure I won't be able to."

"That's why I think this is interesting, Lena." He started and she frowned at her nickname. "We're not in one. We're just... companion."

"Do you really think that?"

"No," He was serious. "But if this makes you believe on it and stay, I may start to."

* * *

A/n: Sorry it's been this long. Things have been ridiculously crazy around here :) Writing is not really easy for me, I'm more the reader kind of person, but this story is something I really plan to finish. It may take a while, but I promise I'll get there.


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

_"That's why I think this is interesting, Lena." He started and she frowned at her nickname. "We're not in one. We're just... companion."_

_"Do you really think that?"_

_"No," He was serious. "But if this makes you believe on it and stay, I may start to."_

Elena turned around in bed for the hundredth time. She couldn't sleep. Not without talking things through with Damon. She let it pass last night, changed the subject, but this would haunt her for the rest of the night if she didn't talk to him, explained herself, made him understand. He was offering something her heart couldn't deny, but her head could contest. No strong connection, no hearts to be broken, no worries about having her heart broken. Just companion. Friendship. A travel buddy. Someone to go to parties with. And no huge responsibilities other than living together. No 'I love yous' or obligation to make the other one happy. Of course some of that came together with this deal, but in a very small scale compared to a real relationship. She could be jumping in her bed right now because, beyond offering the deal of her life, Damon happened to be one guy she liked and was attracted to. It wasn't hard to be around him.

She suddenly sat down in her bed. She was going to talk to him. Right now. And she didn't care it was past 2 AM and he probably was asleep. She needed this or she would go crazy.

She slowly opened the door to his room, only to find him sitting in his bed, reading. He looked at her, puzzled. He was shirtless, she noticed.

"Everything all right?" He asked.

"Not really... Can't sleep."

"Same here" he said, holding his book higher to show it to her.

"We need to talk." She blurted out. "About... us."

"All right," he said, putting the book down. "Let's talk. Did you think about what I said earlier?"

"Yes, I did. And that is what's bothering me... What are you trying to accomplish, Damon? I can quite put my mind around it."

"Do you remember when we first met?" He looked in her eyes and she nodded. "I don't care what you think about this. Call it fate, destiny, soul mates even but that day I felt something different when I looked at you. I've never been a hopeless romantic, but there was something about you..."He looked at her, she was staring at him as if he was crazy. It wasn't on purpose. She just never thought she would see the day someone would say something like this to her. And actually make her believe in it, even when she didn't want to. "Damn it, Elena. When I'm with you I feel like a 5 year-old girl who believes in fairy tales and prince charming."

She laughed. Really laughed. Things were looking as if Damon was the girl and she was the boy. "There are few things that you can say today that have the power to change my mind about this whole... agreement."

"What happened to you?" Was not a question she was expecting nor something that would change her mind.

"Long story short, I don't believe in love."

"Everybody believes in love."

"I don't. I'm 22 and I've never been in love." She said fiercely. "And do you want to know the worst part?" She almost whispered and the change in her voice alerted him. "I want to feel something. I want to have butterflies and all those other things my friends always complain about. I want to have someone to daydream about. You have no idea how much I want it and how it haunts me." A lonely tear escaped her eye and his eyes followed it all the way through her cheek. "I'm afraid I won't feel anything, ever. That I'll be lonely and no one will care about me, because I just can't care in return."

"Don't say that, Elena. You won't be lonely, you have me."

"You say that now." She smiled weakly. "And I don't even know why."

"See, that's one of your problems. Can't I like you just because? Is it so hard to understand that people like you?"

"You just don't get it" she smiled weakly.

"Then tell me" He begged her.

"I don't get it." She said. "Why people want to get married, grow old together and all that stuff."

"Isn't that one of the reasons why we live?"He asked.

"But it doesn't make sense..."

"But why do you believe in sense? Elena, life is senseless, love is senseless. We don't know where we came from, and we have no idea where we'll go after. The least we can do is enjoy simple things, smile, do what makes us happy. Make it worthy."

"For what?" She asked, a tear streaming down her cheek.

"For ourselves. You owe nothing to anyone. Everything you do, do it for yourself." He kept staring at her, trying to notice the smallest change in her features, something that would tell him she was better. "About those butterflies," He said while running his hand all the way up and down her arms, barelly touching her. "we can work on them."

"Do you really believe on it?" She looked at him, and he could see a small spark in her eyes.

"I do." He smiled and she smiled in return. "Do you trust me?"

"Awkwardly, yes, Damon."

"Then we'll work it out. You'll just have to do one thing" She looked at his eyes attentively "don't hold anything back."

Damon had no idea of how much he was asking from her. It should be something simple but it wasn't. Not for someone who didn't believe in relationships and didn't want a broken heart. But she nodded anyway, cleaning the tears that were falling down her face.

"Stay here with me today." Damon asked. She thought about and decided that if she wanted to give this thing a go, really trying, she should. There were a lot of things about her life with Damon she couldn't picture and thought sounded and would feel weird. Sleeping with him was one of these things - even if she had shared a bed with him, it wasn't the same thing and didn't mean the same thing.

She slipped under the covers and he made sure she was near him, moving a little himself. He was staring at the ceiling, and so was she, not sure of what to say. He was beginning to think she fell asleep when she whispered "There is something I have to tell you. Two somethings, actually."

"Yes?"

"I've been in this city before. When I... when I lived with my parents, we lived here... For 16 years. I met Caroline here. It was one of the reasons I said yes. Somehow coming here it you made it seem easy at the time. It didn't felt like it later and that's one of the reasons I wanted to leave."

"Oh... Why didn't you say anything?"

"I didn't know how." She turned a bit to look at him. He was emotionless.

"Well, I'm glad you told me. It doesn't change anything... What's the other thing?"

"I'm not staying for your money."

"What?" That made him uncomfortable.

"You're rich, I'm not. You want to be with me, I'm not so sure about that. I just want to make that clear. And... I've won some in Vegas."

"Why didn't you told me?" He asked turning at her and smiling. "I mean, you won money. I've never won there. And I know you're not here for the money... doesn't mean it will stop me from giving you things."

"Yes, it will. I don't want people talking about me Damon."

"I come from one of the founding families of this town. If you lived here, then you know what that means. I have money in the family, Elena... And I'll use it with us."

She just looked at him. She was from a founding family too, but never gave that too much thought.

"You won't change your mind, will you?" She asked.

"Nope." He smiled, turning on his side and putting an arm on her waist.  
"Whatever." She said, turning around and facing the wall. She was already breaking most of her rules, her beliefs and her truths. She would deal with this one day at a time.

* * *

A/n: Sorry it's been this long. And sorry the chapter is short! I honestly had trouble writing. Not enough time, not enough ideas, I wanted to change some things in the earlier chapters (didn't do thins though) and was not very happy with the story, but I had some inspiration last night and things should be better now. Hope you liked it!


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